mind (as indeed they may have been only later brought together with what now follows), the composer begins his ascriptions of praise. He will regard Ahura as all-bountiful and -mighty, since He has carefully nurtured, as with His very hand, th£ aids of grace which He will bestow, as gifts of forbearance on those now wicked, in the hope of penitence, and in the merciful threat of punishment, and to the devout disciple, whose piety is never ceremonial only. And these means of grace, although abounding in the inculcation of moral sanctity in thought, and word, and deed (see Vendidad VIII, 100 (Sp. 283) 1, where * thought * clearly refers to intention in the strongest sense of the term), are yet profane, aside from the flame of that holy Fire which rallied the masses to a national worship, and which was strong for the holy order, as well as by means of it. For these reasons he adores their giver, but for still another. It was because the might of the Good Mind of Ahura approached him within them, and gave him strength for all that was before him. 5. Like the Semitic prophet, he poetically con- ceives himself as having beheld Ahura, as the chief of the two spirits, and as sovereign over all other powers when the world was born. And he regards Him as having also then established rewards and punishments by his holiness, so separate in its dualistic dis- tinction from all complicity with evil either by infliction or permission. And these rewards and punishments were to have their issue not in time alone, but in ‘the last turning, of the creation' in itscourse.
6. And for Ahura' s coming in this last changing he fervently beseeches, as well as for the appearance of the Sacred Kingdom, established and guarded by the divine Benevolence. And this con- summation, he implies, will take" place when the settlements shall be furthered in the Righteous Order, and by means of it, the end of progress having been attained; for then the piety of men's souls will itself be their instructor, delivering the regulations which shall silence the controversy of the two sides (Y. XXXI, 3). And these regulations are as the wisdom of Ahura' s understanding (Y. XXVIII, 2), so penetrating that all thoughts lie bare to it (Y. XXXI, 13).
7. He now declares the principles on which he accepted the divine call. Sraosha (verse 12), he says, drew near to question him. As he is called by Ahura, Obedience, the same who constitutes the way to Ahura (or finds His throne (Y. XXVIII, 6)), now draws near 1 Anaeshem mano, anaSshem va£6, anaeshem dcyaothnem prove that the thought, word, and deed referred to were not limited to a ritual meaning.
THE GATHAS.
him, (I. say Sraosha (i. e. Obedience), for if he is not so described as drawing near in this verse, he assuredly is so described in a verse nearly following (the twelfth).). Beyond a question, the fine subjec- tivity here expressed was intended. As the seer cried: O Right- eousness! when shall I see thee (in myself and within my people), so now he means that his obedient spirit listens to the call of God.
8. And as his personified conscience questions him as to his origin, and the principles on which he would proceed, it represents the obedient people, as well as the obedient sage (for the sense of Sraosha, while originally applied to the personal will, is not restricted to it). ‘ Loyalty * questions him, that 'loyalty/ may report his answers. He therefore responds, speaking in his name as Zarathmtra (or else one thoroughly in unison with him, here speaks in his name). And this is his statement, as to the indica- tions which shall determine his personality. His course will be without a compromise. The unbelieving opposers, as he declares, shall meet no favour at his hands, but detestation, while to the de- vout disciple he will be as powerful an aid. And this because his mind and thought are (as if blinded to the present) fixed upon the ideal Kingdom, while for the present he never ceases to toil on, making preparations for the Frashakar^, and constructing hymn after hymn to set up the needed machinery of lore.
9. Again, his conscience and., obedient will, as the angel of the Deity, questions him; and this time offers him that chief of wished for objects to him, religious knowledge. He mentions the holy Fire, with its proper offering, as the theme of his first inquiry.
10. And he beseeches Ahura to answer and to favour him, since he invokes such a complete endowment, going hand in hand with true Piety, and with no selfish interest in his prayer. He then, with •a depth which I confess seems suspicious, asks of Mazda to put his petitions for him, recallifig Y. XXVIII, 1 1, where he beseeches Ahura to fill up his desire with what not he, the speaker, but with what He, Ahura, knows to be the Good Mind’s gifts. Or, with a conjectural improvement (?) of the text, he asks of Ahura to ques- tion him that he may be questioned indeed, saying. gts it were, 4 search me, and know me/ But the other reading beMg retained as having superior point, and needing no conjectured text, we may • see his further thought: 'Ask Thou our questions for us, and then we shall never fail; then we shall be no desireless (anaesha) men, spumed by the wailing kine as flinching champions (Y. XXIX, 9), but we shall be indeed Thy rulers, " speaking our mighty wish/’ YASNA XL1II.
97 YASNA XL1II.
97 like the isha-khshathra, whom she sought (Y. XXIX, 9), our wish shall work' our will; it will accord with the will of God/ if. He is, however, not blind to all that' lies before him in accepting this call He worships the bounty and majesty of Ahura while he is impressing his soul with the import of this conference, 'and that notwithstanding,, and none the less, because His will, when obeyed in actions, will bring on earthly sufferings.
12. But notwithstanding all that may be in store 'for him, he hopes to make those doctrines treasures (Y. XXXIY, 7), that is, a spiritual wealth (compare also Ahura's uti). One only qualifica- tion would he add: 4 Wait only before Thou givest the word that I should go -forth with Thy new truths (which bring such suffering to him who first pronounces them), wait till my obedient will, listen- ing fully to all which Thou shalt say, shall come to me, and then shall that obedient reverence in me and my beloyed, help on ow effort, that we may spread abroad the ridings of Thy promised re- compense to win the living to Thee (Y. XXXI, 3)/ 13. ‘And that. I may know and make known (so he continues) the. true aims and objects of desire to those to whom I am at Thy word to go, grant me for this long life within Thy Realm, although that life be full of bitterness (verse n; and Y. XXXII, 10, xi; XL VI, 1), for those who propagate Thy cause/ 14. ‘ Yea, as a friend, both wise and powerful, gives to a friend, send to me not only Sraosha, an obedient listening will, but raf(e)no frakhshnenem, abundant grace. Then, and then only, shall I be flanked with a proper ally. Then with. Thy Sovereign Power, like my Obedient will, as an angel sent forth- from Thee, and inspired by Thy righteous Order in law and ritual, in thought, and word, and deed, then I will go out to arouse and head the chiefs, gathering into spiritual hosts the many believing priests who even now would bear in mind and celebrate Thy mysteries/ 15., And as he began with fearless severity, so he would end • without a compromise. £ My patient suffering (so he implies" as he proceeds (Y. XL VI, 1)) reveals its lesson to me. My mind is long- enduring, but that patience, although it may seem to some the cowardice of a pusillanimous protector (Y. XXIX, 9), yet it is not such in truth, for it declares within me, and forces me to say: Let no man please the wicked; this is our only prospect of success/ 16. And casting back his thoughts he (or another in his name) sums all up well: s Thus doth Zarathurtra choose the spirit, that spirit which animates the faithful in their chiefs (Y. XXXIII, 9), m H g8 THE GATHAS.
and by his side every true believer utters his sympathising prayer: Let the Order of life and of the ritual become incarnate in our tribes, and strong because it has the valiant power of faithfuUmen to obey and to defend it. And let Piety prevail till it covers our land blest with the favours of the sacred, sun, and as she lives in the. lives of true adherents, may she in sympathy.with the Good Mind, thus grant rewards for all our deeds! ' Translation.
1. Salvation to this man salvation to him who- soever (he may be 1 2 )! Let the absolutely ruling Great Creator grant (us, He) the living Lord, the two eternal powers. Yea, verily 3, I ask it of Thee (O Ahura) for the maintaining 4 Righteousness. And may st Thou also give it to me, (O inspiring) Piety! splendour 5 (as it is), holy blessings, the Good Mind’s life 6.
2. Yea, to this one 7 may the man endowed with 1 Ahmai as=to us, does not seem to be good grammar here, as it necessitates a forced separation between it and yahmai- kahmaLfci/. Cp. ahmai yahmai-kahmai^i/ in Y. XLIV, 16.
A I turn from the fine rendering of the Pahlavi with the greatest reluctance: Nadu£ valman mftn zak i valman nadftkih kaiarzai [afgh kadarzal anruta min nadfikih i valman nad&kih], happy is he whose benefit is for every one; [that is, for every man there is happiness from his benefit]; Ner. follows.
3 There is a question whether the particle ga / (gha/?) may not have originated from ga/. Barth, here follows the Pahlavi, reading gat6i (?)=pavan yamtununo. Lak may have been added, as often, to serve as an alternative rendering.
4 Or { I will/ so Prof. Jolly (infinitive for imper.) B So also the Pahl. raye-homand, not as a rendering merely, but as a philological analagon. Otherwise c riches/ 6 Oa£m recalls sraerta gaya ^(i)vai«ti.
As ahmai would more naturally mean 6 to this one ' in thd pre- ^ous verse, it is desirable to render it in the same way here.
YASKA XL1IL 99 glory 1 give that best of all things, the (spiritual) glory. And do Thou likewise (Thyself) reveal 2 Thine own 3. (gifts) through Thy most bountiful spirit, O Mazda! (And do Thou teach us) Thy wonderful thoughts of wisdom 4, those of Thy Good Mind, which Thou hast revealed (to us) by Thy Righteousness (within us) with the happy increase of (our joy 5 ), and on a long life's every day 6.
3. And may that (holy man) approach toward that which is the better than the good 7, he who will show to us the straight paths of (spiritual) profit, (the blessings) of this corporeal life, and of that the men- tal 8, in those veritably real (eternal 9 ) worlds, where dwells Ahura; (that holy man) an offerer of Thine 10, O Mazda! a faithful citizen 11, and bountiful of (mind).
I It is to the last degree improbable that kvithioyi (^z 4 thrav&; * y ’ miswritten for ‘ v ’) indicates a ^condition of ease and comfort here. The 4 easy man ’ is the farthest possible from the' thoughts of the composer. The ‘ best of all things ' makes a word kindred to kveng (hmn) appropriate here.
s * Kik i (?), if an imperative (?), may mean guard over; but the Pahlavi translator gives us the better view; he has lak pe^kino; Ner. tvam prakaraya. Celdners X’i^fthwa is important.
3 Thwa=thy properties. 4 The Pahl. has merely pa^/mano.
5 This shade of meaning is expressed by the Pahlavi.
6 Ayare, acc. pi.
7 This expression seems to equal the summum bonum; so also f worse than the evil J is the ultimate of woe.
8 Cp. Y. XXVIII, 3.
9 Does haithy^g mean 4 eternal/ with every passage in which it occurs considered?
10 Thwavawt may, however, like mava nt, simply express the per- sonal pronoun here. The position of aredro, &c. is awkward if th\vava/zt==thy: * Where dwells Ahura, Thyself, O Mazda! bene- ficent, wise, and bountiful/ • But aredra is almost a special term for a zealous partisan.
II The Pahl. has khup-danakih, indicating a meaning which would IOO THE GATHAS.
4. Yea, I will 1 regard Thee as mighty and likewise bountiful, O Ahura Mazda! when (I behold) thoge aids of grace (approach me), aids which Thou dost; guard and nurture 2 as (Thy) just awards to the wicked (to hold him far from us), as well as to the righteous (for our 'help), Thy Fire’s flame therewith so strong through the Holy Order 3, and when to me the Good Mind’s power comes 4+5.
5. (For) so I conceived of Thee as bountiful, O Great Giver, Mazda! when I beheld Thee as supreme 6 in the generation of life, when, as rewarding 7 deeds and words, Thou didst establish evil for the evil, and happy blessings for the good, by Thy (great) virtue 8 (to be adjudged to each) in the crea- tion’s final change.
6. In which (last) changing Thou shalt come, and with Thy bounteous spirit, and Thy sovereign power, better apply to Ahura than the one given, which cannot be applied to Him.
2 £ By Thy hand/ s The holy Fire of the altar.
4 Glmzi may be regarded as an improper subjunctive here.
6 The Pahlavi: £ and that too which renders justice to the wicked and also to the righteous. And this Thy Fire is burning, since by it .the strength of him who lives in Righteousness is (maintained) when that violence which approaches with a good intention comes to me/ 6 See Y. XXXI, 8, where the word is also rendered as=vornehm- ster.
7 Literally, ‘When Thou didst render deeds provided with rewards/ We are forced to put the action in the past on account of zathdi, but the influences originally set in motion were to have their issue in the.end of the world.
8 I render "Kunara literally, and bring its Pahlavi translation to the same sense as necessarily. Otherwise hhnar would generally mean 1 skill/ Ner. has tava guzzeshu. The Pahlavi would here be recognised by all reasonable scholars as striking in its closeness.
YASNA XLIII.
lOI O Ahura Mazda! by deeds of whom the settlements aj-e furthered through the Righteous Order. And saving regulations 1 likewise unto these shall Aramaiti utter, (she, our Piety within us), yea, (laws) of Thine understanding which no man may deceive 2.
7. Yea, I conceived of Thee as bountiful, O Great Giver Mazda! when he (Thy messenger, Obedience) drew near me, and asked me thus: Who 3 art thou? And whose is thine allegiance? And how to-day shall I show the signs that give the light on this (our) question, (signs) as to the lands (from whence thou earnest) and in thyself?
8. • Then to him I, Zarathurtra, as my first answer, said: To the wicked (would that I could be) in very truth a strong 4 tormentor and avenger, but to the 1 The word ratlk reminds one of the work of the Ratu for the afflicted Mne. In the last changing, which shall complete the Fra- shakan/, he, or his representatives, will appear as the last Saoshya»t, introducing £ millennial * blessedness.
2 I render the Pahlavi here as in evidence: f Through Thee, 0 (?) bountiful Spirit I the changing comes [(later (?) gloss) from wickedness to goodness]. And it comes likewise through A&har- rnazd^s supremacy within a good mind, through whose action the pro- gress of Aharayih’s settlements is furthered, those which the master is instructing with a perfect mind [ ], and in which this Thy wisdom shall in no wise be deceived thereby/ 3 As the kine thought little of her deliverer (see Y. XXIX, 9), so Sraosha, the obedient host, is here represented as inquiring as to. the antecedents of the newly-appointed prophet.But he asks more properly concerning the settlements from which he comes than the- lands. Ga6tha is not da^z>(h)yu. An origin external to that of other chieftains is not at all necessarily indicated by the question*, 4 The Pahlavi sees a denominative in isoya (isdyl; y for v); It • is denom. in the Altiranisches Verbuxn. It differs, however, as to root. I offer an alternative in' its sense. An open tormentor $ [that is, I openly torment the wicked] even as. much as I desire, do 1 torment (diem) [(later (?) gloss) Ganr&k minavad].
THE gATHAS.
righteous may I be a mighty help and joy \ since to preparations 2 for Thy Kingdom, and in desire {far its approach), I would devote myself so long as to Thee, O Mazda! I may praise, and weave my song.
9. Yea, I conceived of Thee as bountiful, O Ahura Mazda! when (Thine herald) with Thy Good Mind near approached me, and asked me thus: For what dost thou desire that thou may’st gain, and that thou may st know it? Then for Thy Fire an offering of praise and holiness (I desired. And on that offering for myself) 3 as long as I have the power, will I meditate 4, (and for its holy power among Thy people will I plan 5 ).
10. And may’st Thou likewise grant 0 me (Thy) Righteousness (within me), since I earnestly invoke that perfect readiness (of mind), joining in my prayer with Aramaiti (our Piety toward Thee. Yea, pray Thou Thyself within me through these holy powers). Ask Thou (Thyself) our questions, those which shall - be asked by us 7 of Thee; for a question asked by 1 We must ^ cautious in accepting the statement that the Pahlavi translations attempt to be literal. Here is one which is free and far from erroneous: AMno avo aharubo min valman t afig-homand afto; [aighar, raminam].
2 The Pahlavi here shows only the correct root. * Ma=sma?
‘ ‘ So lon S as 1 can > wi!i I ^ of this mind/ seems hardly ex- pressed here. Observe the nearly parallel construction in verse 8 5 The Pahlavi, Sanskrit, and Persian translations would here be regarded once more as extremely dose even by opponents if reasonaWe in their estimates. Manayai seems to me hardly’an infinitive, as it is comparatively seldom that an infinitive falls to the Of the Pahlavi with Justi and Bartholomae (in the Altiranisches * ^ ead P® rha P s daidhir (later shortened to suit the metre). Or. ‘ask us that we may be questioned by Thee/ YASNA XLIII.
Thee (as its inspirer), is as the question of the mighty, whene’er Thy (?) ruler speaks his potent wish.
11. Yea, I conceived of Thee as bountiful, O Ahura Mazda! when (Thy messenger) with Thy Good Mind near approached me, and with your words 1 1 first impressed (my soul). Woes then 'midst men Thy heart-devoted one 2 declared 3 (to be) my (portion); but that will I do 4 * which Thou did’st 6 say was best.
12. And since Thou, coming thus, Thy legal Righteousness in fulness 11 spakest, then declare not to me words as yet unheard (with faith or know- ledge; command me not) to go forth (with these upon my task) before Thy Sraosha 7 * * * (Obedience) comes to me, to go on hand in hand with me with holy recompense and mighty splendour 2, whereby to I The Pahlavi translation bears evidence to a less subtle, and therefore more probable sense here, but at the same time to a rarer grammatical form. It renders dida'iNh® as a third person, indicating an instance of a third person in §, and not in the perfect. It also recognises a reduplicated form by its pavan nikezLrno nikeze<fo.
* The Pahlavi translator with a curious error, or still more curious freedom, has rfibak-dahijnih here and elsewhere. Possibly the Gathic text before the last compiler differed from ours.
* I still prefer Professor Bartholomae’s earlier rendering, after the Pahlavi, as more in harmony with mraot& and mraox.
* Professor Jolly has the important rendering ‘das will ich than;’ the infinitive in a future or imperative sense.
II ‘ Ye said.’
* The Pahlavi unvaryingly kabed.
7 Here we probably have the missing subject in the. other verses.
* Reading maza raya. (Rayi cannot well mean * riches ’ here.)
The Pahlavi also indicates the division by its free or erroneous mas rath (ra d). Sraosha, an obedient will personified, guides the soul as in the later Parsism. Cp. the Ara® VirSf. - THE gAtHAS.
give the contending 1 * throngs (?), as a blessing®, (Your) spiritual gifts (of certainty and peace).
13. Thus I conceived of Thee as bounteous,.0 Ahura Mazda! when with Thy Good Mind (Sraosha, Obedience) approached me. (And I would therefore pray thus of Thee, that bounteous one.) In order that I may make known to men the true and sacred aims of their desires (in the rite or daily toil), grant Y e me long life 3 for this, (that blessing 4 * ) which none with daring may extort 6 from You, even this (gift) of that desired 6 place which has been declared to be within Thy Realm.
14. Yea, as the man enlightened 7 (in Thy law), and who has possessions, gives to his friend, (so give Ye) me, O Great Creator 8! Thy rejoicing and 1 Here we have the important reading ranoibyo as against the dual of K4, &c. (see Geldner). No mention of the fire occurs; and as the form does not agree with arawi, we may well doubt that comparison in view of asayau in Y. XXXI, 2, and the unvarying and uniform patkanf&ritno of the Pahlavi. The rendering ‘with the sticks’ is, however, admirably adapted, and must be considered as an emphatic alternative.
* The Pahlavi supports the reading vi for ve; it has barfi. Ash! might also mean merely ‘holy,’ as adjective.
In Y. XXVIII, 7, he asks for it that he may crush the malice of the foe.
* Justi admirably suggested yinem understood.
* The Pahlavi divides d&rrtait£, and, as I hold, mistakes the root as was inevitable. The ancient scribe feared to restore the severed fragments', which appeared, as so often, in the MSS. before him. I would read darraitS with Spiegel’s c(?) (so Bartholomae, later, how- ever, recurring to a division, with Geldner after the Pahlavi, for the sake of bringing out an infinitive).
Vairyau contracted from vairyayau by a corrupting improvement to regulate the metre.
So the Pahlavi indicates, Bartholomae follow ing as against the rendering ‘ possessing.’
YASNA XLIII.
abounding grace, when through Thy sovereign Power, and from (the motives of Thy cause of) Righteous Order, I stand forth 1 to go out to 2, or to arouse, the chiefs 3 of Thy (pure) proclamation, with all those (others) who recite Thy well-remembered * Mathra word.
15. Yea, I conceived of Thee as bounteous, O Ahura Mazda! when with the Good Mind’s grace Thy Sraosha (Obedience) approached me, (and said): Let the quiet and long-enduring better mind with understanding teach (thee); let not a foremost 6 man since have stated that I object to the comparison, not only because me<M is a feminine, and, as Grassmann has supposed, possibly represented by the Zend madh, Greek math, but because ‘ wisdom is an abstract (while su-medhas, as a compound, does not apply so directly). I hold, however, that mazda, the fern, noun in Y. XL, 1 — medha. It is also not impossible that this word may be represented (with differing shades of meaning) by both madh and mazdam (fem.) in Zend*., 1 Read, perhaps, frakhrta; or frirta, ‘with Thine advancing kingdom I (am) to go forth to’; (frfi+as, participle.), 1 Prof. Jolly has the important rendering, ‘ Ich will micherheben; the infinitive in a future or imperative sense.
* Chieftainships. Compare (not with exactness, however) six- * The idea of reciting from memory seems to be included in 6 The rendering pomhs (?) as=pL of pdrds is attractive, but <k^ vato hardly needs, and seldom has, a substantive. The wicked _ wicked men; and,on the other hand, na constantly claim ft a f con ^ panyingword; (na ismand; na vaSdemno; hv6 nfi-erethw6; na spe»t6, ye-nfi, ke vfi-nfi, Ac.) Also it is improbable that the words nfi and pourfrr, as = pfirdvas, should come together; ‘ let not a man men evil ingratiate (?),’ Compare for sense here purviis in one or more of its applications. Possbly the meaning is ‘ let not a man be fore- most in conciliating the wicked.’. The Pahlavi i^w.se has^kabed (freely). Ner.has: M& naraA* pratoas* durgatmam bhfiydt yathi kathazwKt satkartfi. An important rendering is that of Professor io6 THE GATHAS.
conciliate the wicked (as sycophant desiring aid), for with that (quiet mind of faith), Thy saints have brought full many a sinner- unto Thee (as convert, and in penitence 1 ).
1 6. Thus, O Ahura Mazda! this Zarathurtra loves 2 the Spirit 3, and every man most bounteous prays 4 (beside him): Be Righteousness life-strong, and clothed with body. In that (holy) Realm which shines (with splendour) as the sun, let Piety be pre- sent; and may she through the indwelling of Thy Good Mind give us blessings in reward for deeds 5!
Jolly, V.S. s. 47, 1 mochte es wenige Verehrer des Liigners geben.’ Cp. Y. XLVI, i, where the composer speaks of the chiefs as on their side, ‘not contenting’ him: 1 Or, with the Pahl.: M&n aetuno lak harvisp-guno aharubano pavan anak yakhsenund, for they consider all Thy saints as wicked. The rendering above is less natural as conveying the idea of a conversion (comp., however, ya g(i)va.nto visp eng vauraya), but it renders the grammatical forms more simply. It is bad policy to force a text to express what we happen to believe to be a more natural idea. Using the hint of the Pahlavi here in an understanding manner, we might then render ‘ for they hold all sinners as holy/ 9 I had long since compared vere»te with vrzmie (-devanam avas); and am now sustained by Bartholomae’s view.
3 Possibly the Spenirta mainyu of Ahura. (See also Y. XL! V, 2.)
4 The Pahlavi, on the contrary, bears evidence to the meaning 1 comes,’ which I cannot accept as £ tradition ’ in view of the follow- ing precatives.
3 Ner.: 1 The kingdom becomes established (in a manner com- pletely manifest) in sun-publicity through mental perfection [ ]; and upon the workers of righteousness the Good Mind bestows it/ YASNA XLXV.
TO/ YASNA XLIV.
Questions asked of Ahura with thankfulness AND DEVOTION, Many verses may here have fallen out, or, on the other hand, the piece having been made up of homogeneous, but not originally con- nected fragments, has been left with some abrupt transitions. These, however, occasion very little difficulty in exegetical treatment, and are also not displeasing. The formula, ‘This I ask Thee, O Ahura! tell me aright' seems to have been suggested by Y. XXXI, 14. We might therefore look upon this piece as composed later than Y. XXXI, but not necessarily in a later generation, or even from another hand. In fact the style is thoroughly homo- geneous in certain places with that of pieces which we ascribe without a doubt to Zarathmtra, and the signs of struggle point to the earliest period. It is possible that the words in Y. XXXI, and the formula here were of common origin, neither having any extended priority to the other, or the words may be original here, and derived in Y. XXXI.
Whether Zarathmrtra, or another of the narrow circle of religious leaders, was the composer throughout depends upon the further questions already more than once broached, as to how far a cor- responding intellectual cultivation was extended at the period in the community, and as to what is the probability of the existence of more than one man in the small group, endowed with the peculiar qualities everywhere manifested in these hymns (see re- marks in the Introduction and elsewhere). It is safest to say that Zarathmtra composed most of the matter here before us, and that the supplementary fragments were composed under his domin- ating, if not immediate, influence.
Verses 1 and 2 seem an introduction, but hardly give added emphasis to the fact that the following questions were expressions of devotion, and only in a few instances appeals for knowledge. Verses 3-5 are certainly questions intended to express veneration while naming particular objects of devout inquiry. Verse 6 stands somewhat apart. Verses 7-1 1 enter into details touching the moral and religious improvement of the people, 12-14 are po- lemical, 15 and 16 are prophetical, &c.
the gathas.
the gathas.
1. More closely; the composer beseeches Ahura to speak to him, and in a manner characteristic of Himself as in distinction from the falsifying utterance of the opposing religion, which was so familiarly described as the religion of < Falsehood/ He is entreated to reveal, as is His wont, ‘ the holy truth/ And the first question propounded to Him by the composer, as comprehensive of all others, is how he may offer homage, the homage of God Himself or of His bountiful spirit; (see mainyft in verse 2). And he further asks that Ahura may speak to him, showing him by what cere- monial he may conciliate him, and by what helps of grace that spirit, or Ahura Himself, may be inclined to draw near to him in accordance with his frequent prayer.
2. Once more he asks how he may serve that Spirit as the foremost one of Heaven (compare Y. XXXI, 8, and the Parsi vahirt) who seeks for this addition of praise to praise for as the supreme claim to our veneration, He had, as a guardian (Y. XXXI x 3 ) kke Ahura in yet another place, held off destruction from all believing saints and from all repentant men (Y. XXXI, 3), and that although as ‘die chief of Heaven,’ yet also as a benignant friend.
3. *rom these introductory petitions, inserted perhaps before ma*y lost verses, he proceeds in another tone, although he may t0 Say What is hom °geneous to the foregoing: ‘Yea^ I ask how 1 may serve Him, O Mazda! for He is indeed Thyself’ first establisher alone, but the first father, of our holy Order “ f, P ersomfied Immortal, and that not by creation, but by generation, as the parent generates the child? Who fixed for stare Known progress save Thee?’
4 - The laws of gravitation then become the theme of his praise ^ <* pressed the form Qf atmospheric phenomena, especially the clouds driven by winds not Z the Mams beyond the mountains perhaps, but sfiH terribl’e as witds £ ^ But he cannot leave even the sublime objects of nature withou" aces of slumber, and as forming by their contrast the necessary YASNA XLIV.
chance w hich builds up happiness, he alludes to the supreme arrauger as ‘well-skilled,’ and asks: Who so wisely relieved the davby night? But, again, he cannot close without reverting to the course of moral duty. 6. Seized with a doubt which again only heigh tens the fervour of his assurance, he asks whether indeed the facts which he proclaims are really what they seem. Whether piety although aided by the Good Mind, implanted through Ahura’s grace within us, will indeed at last, or soon, assign the purified Realm to the servants of Ahura, who were there among the masses before his eyes (taSibyo), or to Ahura Himself as their sovereign controller (taibyd?). And, as including all rural riches in herself, he asks for whom He had made the kine, not now wailing in her grief (Y. XXIX, 9), but ‘ delight-affording,’ on account of the influence of Piety and Benevolence embodied in the Kingdom, in- ferring that God had made her for these same (the faithful masses).
7 And going yet further back; he asks who made that paternal and filial Piety itself, together with the Realm which it should leaven? Answering his own inquiries by an inference, he adds: I am pressing Thee with fulness in these questions, O Thou bounti- ful Spirit (compare mainyur, or mainyfi in verse 2), the maker of all (sun, stars, and holy qualities). 8. Turning now to verbal revela- tions, he asks by what means his soul may prosper in moral good- ness, praying that it may indeed thus advance as the expected answer would declare; 9. He prays that he may know how he may still further sanctify that Religion which the King of the Holy Realm (compare anghmr vahirtahya pourvim), the one like Ahura (see Khshmavato and thwavas, verse 1) would teach, dwelling in the same abode (in which Ahura is also elsewhere said to dwell) with the holy Order, and the Good Mind (see Y. XL VI, 16).
xo. Expressing all in a single word, he asks Ahura to reveal to him the Daena, the Insight, the substance of that Religion which was ‘ of all things best,’ and which alone could ‘ advance the settle- ments ’ with the holy ritual and moral Order as its ally, which would also render all their moral and ceremonial actions, and moral principles just by means of the divine Piety, which was their realisa- tion in practice; and he closes with the exclamation that the wishes and desires of his soul, when most embued with wisdom, will seek for God. A for God. A ix. Following out the influence of Aramaiti (that personified Piety), he asks to know by what practical means she may approach, and be realised as the characteristic of those to whom the holy Insight should be preached, avowing that God knows how prominent no THE GATHAS.
he is in his devotion to the matter, and with what hatred seated ‘ in his spirit/ he views the opposing Gods. 12. Then casting a search- ing glance over the masses, and perhaps eyeing their several groups, each headed by its ‘ chieftainship ’ (sardenau smghahya), he cries, addressing Ahura formally, but the people really (so also elsewhere frequently), and says: ‘Who is the righteous believer as regards these my questions asked of God to express my belief in Him, and who is the sceptic? Which man does the Angra Mainyu govern; or which is as evil as that chief himself? ’ And, recalling the galling fact that some are tolerated who not only do not assist but oppose his efforts, and perhaps having some half-convinced sections in full sight, he cries with bitterness: 4 Why is this sinner, that chief who opposes me as Angra Mainyu opposed Ahura (compare paiti-eret§ with aa / m6i paiti-eretS in Vendldad I), why is he not believed to be what in very truth he is? Why is he still countenanced?' 13. And then with a fierceness which reminds us of s&zdfim snaithisM (Y. XXXI, 18), but which is deeper because proposing a less material remedy, he asks: ‘ Why must we abide the sight of these opposers, representing their Lie-demon as their Goddess? How can I drive her hence to Hell beneath, not to those who hesitate like these, pausing before they condemn the evil party, but to those who are already filled with their disobedience, and who, having no